So Much for Swords into Ploughshares

This morning, Sen John McCain assured us that "There's going to be other wars ... I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars."

McCain would not say who he plans to fight.

This approach when combined with McCain's attacks on the Democrats for wanting to "surrender," and the Suit Called Romney for supporting a "timetable for withdrawal," gives us a nice foreshadowing of the eventual campaign. The big themes are: Republicans are manly men who understand the ways of the world and the necessity of violence. Democrats are sissy idealists always afraid of sinking their hands into the bloodbath. Republicans represent honor and victory. Democrats represent shame and defeat. (Think about it. The Republican primary has become so bellicose that a candidate who reasonably suggests that the US and Iraq might want to agree on a time to pull out our troops is criticized as a coward. Only endless, undefined war now fits the bill.)

You may call it simplistic and adolescent, (and I do) but it is a message with resonance far beyond the VFW halls. It is always a smart play to convince people they are besieged and under attack and that you are uniquely qualified to protect them. It is, however, sad that Sen. McCain appears so willing to tear a page from the Bush playbook and sadder still that he appears ready to lay the groundwork for a self fulfilling prophecy. Walk into a bar looking for a fight, you will usually get one.

So it goes.....